SCUTTLEBUTT 1352 - June 17, 2003

Powered by SAIC (www.saic.com), an employee-owned company. Scuttlebutt is a
digest of major yacht racing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock
talk . . . with a North American focus. Corrections, contributions, press
releases, constructive criticism and contrasting viewpoints are always
welcome, but save your bashing and personal attacks for elsewhere.

ALL AMERICANS
Following is the 2002/2003 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association's All
American Team:

Tuesday the program sees a conclusion to the first Round Robin. Weather
conditions permitting, Wednesday and Thursday the second Round Robin will
take place, with the same formula as the first Round Robin. The first four
teams which are classified will proceed to the semifinals on Friday, the
first team against the fourth and the second team against the third.
Saturday the finalists will compete for the winner of the Nation's Cup. -
Vittoria Trojer

THE NEW "FAMILY BUICK OF RIBS"
Finally, sporty support boats are not the exclusive property of the rich
and famous thanks to Aquapro's latest RIB model, the Raider 22'. With all
the speed and performance of the larger Raider RIBs, the smaller size
doesn't compromise on the superb handling that made Raider famous. With a
comfortable cabin option or the traditional console model, this versatile
sport boat is the answer for those looking for an easily trailerable RIB
that doesn't compromise on performance or amenities. Quality made
affordable. Call for a test ride (619) 709-0697 or visit us online at
http://www.raiderboat.com

CHANGING TIMES
The Bermuda Race Organizing Committee (BROC) has instituted several changes
for their Newport Bermuda« 2004 race:

1. Water ballast will be allowed in the IMS Racing Division.
2. The upper size limit will be increased (speeded up) to 370 sec/mi. GPH.
3. There will be a 30-meter LOA limit.
4. Water ballast will also be allowed in the Americap Double-Handed Division.
5. The starting line will be between Ft. Adams and marker "11"

These changes in the Racing Division mirror the configuration requirements
of the Sydney-Hobart, and Fastnet races. Many double-handed sailors use
water ballast in their events. This is again an effort by the committee to
be inclusive.

The IMS Cruiser/Racer Division and the Americap Non-spinnaker Division will
not be affected by these changes. IMS Cruiser/Racers will not be allowed to
use water ballast and the upper size limit will remain at 420 sec/mi. GPH
to protect the core constituency of the division from a change that may
remain somewhat experimental.

The Racing Division will once again compete for the Gibb's Hill Lighthouse
Trophy and the Cruiser/Racers will sail for the St. David's Lighthouse Trophy.

To make the race much more 'spectator friendly,' the Newport starting line
will be moved inside Narragansett Bay to a line set between the shore at
Ft. Adams State Park and channel marker "11". The New York Yacht Club Race
Committee will manage the start from the shore under the guidance of
Bermuda Race Chairman John Winder. Spectators will be able to view the
action close up as the fleet sails out of the bay with the tidal flow, into
the Rhode Island Sound and off across the Atlantic to Bermuda.

The basic definition of the 2004 Race will be the same. Monohull sailing
vessels with a valid IMS or Americap certificate and which meet the maximum
and minimum sizes for their divisions and the safety standards and crew
competency requirements as defined in the official Notice of Race will be
invited to compete. The Race starts on June 18, 2004. Visit the new web
site and sign up for "Newport Bermuda Newswire" e-mail updates. - Talbot Wilson

SIR PETER BLAKE
The planned $10 million waterfront memorial to Sir Peter Blake was rejected
by his brother yesterday, and a poll showed New Zealanders are against the
concept. Prime Minister Helen Clark also refused to endorse the plan yesterday.

Less than a month after voicing support for the glass-encased yacht
tribute, Sir Peter's brother, Tony Blake, has spoken out against it, saying
the "glass coffin" tag no longer made it palatable. Tony Blake had earlier
described the plan as a "wonderful concept" and a "great-looking building".
He said yesterday that he had initially supported the idea of housing the
America's Cup-winning boat Black Magic (NZL32) in a large glass building at
Viaduct Harbour in Auckland. But continued disparaging references to the
"glass coffin" had tarnished the proposal, he said. "We don't want that
association with Peter."

His comments came as a TV One-Colmar Brunton poll last night revealed
overwhelming support from New Zealanders to instead buy Kaikoura Island,
the seventh-largest island in the Hauraki Gulf, and make it an
environmental reserve. The idea has caught on since first suggested by
Herald columnist Brian Rudman, who was opposed to what he coined the "glass
coffin". Seventy-two per cent of people polled supported the island plan,
compared with only 16 per cent who favoured the glass-case proposal, which
would include an exhibition celebrating Sir Peter's life. - Angela Gregory,
NZ Herald, full story:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&thesubsection=&storyID=3507848&reportID=62070

ALWAYS THE BEST
Camet International has the outstanding reputation of always being the best
in design, quality and service.The Camet sailing shorts are the leaders in
technology and comfort. They are made out of a breathable, fast drying
Supplex « with a UV rating of 40+ (blocks 97.5% of UV rays) and reinforced
with a Cordura « seat patch, to insert an optional foam pad. Camet has a
variety of models of shorts, pants, Coolmax shirts, Bubble tops and
Neoprene and Hiking pants. Ask your dealers for the Camet products or visit
the Camet web site at http://www.camet.com

NEWS BRIEFS
* Sailing World magazine's Chicago National Offshore One Design Regatta
(NOOD) attracted more than 250 sailboats, and 13 of the 20 class winners
were from Illinois with two class winners from Chicago. Brad Boston of
Holland Michigan who won the Hall Spars & Rigging boat of the day on
Saturday went on to win the S 27.9 class with four first-place finishes and
two second-place finish in his six races. - Complete results:
www.sailingworld.com

CALENDAR OF MAJOR EVENTS
* July 10-13: US Sailing's Youth Multihull Championship, Fort Walton YC,
Florida in Hobie 16s. The top U.S. team will qualify for the 2004 ISAF
Youth World Championship in Poland.
http://www.ussailing.org/multihull/youth.htm

DUBARRY ON THE START LINE
The Transpac, Merion/Bermuda, Marblehead/Halifax and Chicago/Mackinac
offshore races are all coming up. When finalizing your gear list don't
forget about your feetů Dubarry Gore-Tex Boots, warm and dry with an award
winning non-skid sole. For details of the complete range of Dubarry
Footwear visit http://www.DubarryNA.com

LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com)
(Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be
edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. This is not a chat room or a
bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best
shot and don't whine if others disagree.)

* From Roger Vaughan: Dawn Riley is an accomplished sailor who has done a
lot for the women's side of the sport. The leadership award she just
received is well-deserved. But having written about Dawn, I'm sure she'd be
the first to make a couple corrections in the Boat US news release. There
were several female crewmembers of America's Cup teams prior to Dawn,
Gertude Vanderbilt among them (she raced in three Cup matches, on
Enterprise, Rainbow, and Ranger). And the first to lead an all-female
Whitbread team was Tracy Edwards (Maiden, 1989-90).

* From LuAnn Parins: I do not want to detract from Dawn Riley's brilliant
list of accomplishments, but she is not the first female member of an
Americas Cup Team. In Dennis Conner's 1985-87 successful Sail America
challenge Dory Street was aboard full time as navigator on Stars and
Stripes '85, and sailed in the Louis Vuitton Cup on Stars and Stripes '87
at least once. She was an integral part of the electonics and navigational
development program throughout the campaign, which returned the Cup to the
US for the San Diego Yacht Club. I had the honor of being involved as a
sailmaker in that campaign. I had the honor of being involved as a
sailmaker in that campaign.

* From Ken Havard (To respond to Howard Paul in #1351): I don't think
animosity is the problem. Racers that are good enough to get paid, but race
in the "normal money" fleet, unfairly distort the results, making it much
more difficult for the "normal money" to win. Over and over we see examples
of boats not doing well, buying a "paid person", who usually live in the
back of the boat, and suddenly, do remarkedly better. "Paid person" goes
away.........boat goes back to its normal performance.

If an owner cannot afford the price of the "paid person", or, doesn't want
to go that route, he is at a disadvantage. I am not saying that experts
should not be used, but use them as a training tool, and not strictly to
win races. For the fleets like the Farr 40's, Maxi's, etc; paid
professionals are the rule, not the exception, and all the owners can
afford them.... not a problem. Paid professionals do not belong in
non-professional fleets.

* From Garry Hoyt: Let me echo Peter Harken's sentiments and reminisce a
bit about how "it used to be" as a Finn sailor. First you trained by
yourself, always rigging and launching the boat by yourself. For regattas,
you organized your boat to be trailered or shipped--by yourself. At the
regatta site you unpacked the boat, rigged and launched it and went out on
the course to make personal observations--by yourself. Competitors were
helpful, but busy taking care of their own boats--by themselves. If
something broke on your boat you fixed it--by yourself. During the race you
quickly learned that getting involved in protests was misplaced effort and
bad behavior did not pay. If you did well, you could take honest
satisfaction in an individual victory. And if you did poorly, there was no
one to blame but yourself. In short, sailing was a crash course in learning
to be responsible for your actions. Sadly, much of today's racing seems to
be designed to evade that through excessive support systems and over
emphasis on using the rules as a primary skill. Sailing is the lesser for
this "progress".

It is no accident that Russell Coutts - arguably the world's best sailor -
was trained as a Finn sailor.

* Chris Ericksen (Re coach boats): Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach,
California, has, for years, run regattas for both juniors and Olympic
classes that have been attended by coaches and spectators in their own
boats. After some bad experiences, ABYC developed a set of rules that are
incorporated into the Sailing Instructions (either as a part or as an
amendment) that specifies the behavior of these boats; they define when a
boat can begin and end coaching, how close the coach boats can be to the
action, requires assistance to be given if asked by the RC and so on. We
have found coaches to be of great help when boats break: we often call on
them to assist damaged or overturned boats, and they have almost
universally helped out. These rules also include sanctions that may be
applied to the competitors if their coach violates them.

In the main, coaches and spectators will obey the rules if they know what
they are and know what the penalties will be if they don't. That is the way
to go. Much as some of us may want to limit or ban coach and spectator
boats, it is too late to put the cork back in the bottle. Accept and manage
it, and use to the advantage of the regatta.

* From Sean A. Dwyer: Hey, just a note on the performance of the RC in
this years Chicago NOOD. Friday's 2 races were cancelled due to fog while a
sweet 6-10 knot breeze blew consistently from 345-355 all day. I joined
everyone else at the YC bitching about it. So Saturday rolls around with
the same sweet breeze & clear skies & the RC runs 4 races, this brought
about a 180 degree shift in attitude at the YC as everyone talked about how
great the day was and how cool it was that the RC (I think on all three
circles) ran 4 races (with good VHF courtesy announcements & over early
calls, so we could make out our sail number without much trouble).

So now the regatta was back on schedule, and most thought that as usual,
the RC's would stretch the legs & hold 1 Sunday race. Nope, they held two
great shorter races under ideal conditions. Huge decision & good on 'em!
Haven't seen so many happy sailors on a long time. The RC stepped up & ran
a professional regatta with as many races as they could cram in, & people
ate it up. They don't hear it much, so I'll say it loud, Attaboy!

* From Scott Rohrer: Barry Carroll's remark lamenting the lack of a
universal grand prix rule is right on the mark. Folks can say what they
will about the IOR and the vessels it spawned but, for a brief while, the
whole world was racing under a single rule and ratings could be worked out
on a pocket calculator.